Why a moratorium can’t stop big Fort Mill home development from getting bigger
A huge new home project in Fort Mill is getting bigger, and a town housing moratorium won’t be able to stop it.
Kolter Group Acquisitions submitted updated plans to the town for its Cresswind project at the ends of Whites Road and Sparkling Brook Parkway. The Florida company sent the town a sketch plan in March showing nearly 640 home lots. The latest version lists 690 homes built in five phases — a nearly 8% increase.
The change happens as Fort Mill is halfway through approving a moratorium on new home construction projects. But that moratorium wouldn’t apply to Cresswind for several reasons.
How Cresswind would get around Fort Mill housing moratorium
Fort Mill Town Council unanimously passed the first of two votes needed for a housing moratorium last month.
The final decision is expected June 23. If approved, the moratorium would stop the town from accepting or approving any proposals that would lead to more residential construction, through the end of the year.
The moratorium would impact annexation and zoning requests. It wouldn’t stop construction on plans already submitted or approved before the moratorium takes effect, like Cresswind. It also wouldn’t stop property owners from constructing homes if the zoning on their land already matches what they want to build.
Cresswind isn’t coming to the town for a zoning change because it’s already zoned for homes.
Fort Mill is the fastest-growing city or town in the Charlotte region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The 48% population growth since 2020 is more than triple what any of the other of the three dozen largest communities have seen.
Fort Mill now has more than 36,000 residents, according to Census Bureau estimates.
The moratorium, council members said last month, gives Fort Mill a pause to work on new land development rules that should be ready before next year. The town has ongoing land use, recreation and downtown master plans under development.
What the new Cresswind plans show
Cresswind is a senior living brand with 15 locations across the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
In addition to Fort Mill, Kolter Group applied this year to put an Indian Land Cresswind community near Sun City, with 850 homes on nearly 870 acres. Cresswind already has Charlotte and Wesley Chapel locations.
The Fort Mill project has about 900 feet of Catawba River frontage, tucked between the river and the Waterside at the Catawba neighborhood. Springland, Inc. owns the 845-acre property.
The new site plan shows an extension of Sparkling Brook across the northern edge of the site, with three entrances into the development. Whites Road would be extended into the site and become Cresswind Boulevard.
A large amenity area would go just south of where the extended Whites and Sparkling Brook would intersect.
Each of five new home phases would have between 109 and 175 lots. Half of the 690 lots would be 60-feet wide. About 15% of the lots, mainly the ones nearest the river, would be larger at 70 feet wide. The plan shows a gated farm access road on the west end of the property, allowing access to a neighboring site.
The Cresswind project would continue a trend of adding homes in Fort Mill. The town had about 9,200 residences at the 2020 census. Three years later the count was more than 10,300, according to the Census Bureau.
